Great work! With the engine properly rebuilt, you might even save on fuel as it becomes more efficient to run.
Any specific work on the heads, or they are rebuilt to standard spec?
Such activity is somewhere in my future plans, but will see when (mine sips coolant almost daily).
Might contact you in private to ask some details about the operation.
Not all today but over the past few weeks, I've finally got around to tidying up my LPG install. I replaced the vaporiser that I think it was a bit underpowered for the car and the seals protruding the edges didn't look too healthy either.
I should also mention I replaced the MAF for a new Bosch one, as I have had some errors related to fuel trims etc and on a closer look, it was actually a cheap one, whilst I'd been thinking it was a Bosch one :/ After this I reset the adaptive values and cleared the codes, but just like usual they returned after a short drive.
Last week I then continued with the LPG, cleaned up the hose routes to the injector rails, routing them towards the rear of the engine instead of straight over the oil filler cap... Plus replaced all the injector hoses and clamps, filter etc. Then cleaned up the wiring loom route too. Finally after buying a diagnostic cable eventually, I looked at the map and found the culprit of the weird dip in revs when idling on LPG only, with AC on. It was set to cut back to petrol at below 800rpm and over 3000rpm, whilst also leaving the petrol injectors open... So what I discovered was happening was, as the AC engaged/disengaged at idle, it would sometimes cause the revs to change just enough for the LPG to switch from petrol to gas and then immediately back again... As it would jump up slightly and hit 800rpm.
So I had a look online for some info on LPG maps for the controller I have and started to tweak. First I turned off the conditions for secretly switching back to petrol at different revs. I let it run an auto map at idle to start with and things were immediately a little better (also pretty far from the previous map!), then I adjusted the map manually a little. Cleared the fault codes for the engine, reset adaptive values again and when for a short drive on both petrol and then gas. Things look good on the map and the engine felt even smoother, gear changes feel almost unnoticeable too now, when sometimes I'd feel those a little more than I liked.
Yesterday I decided to look at another job I've been putting off, which was an error for a heater blower motor not working. First check, the relays... It's missing... I've never even given the 2 missing relays a thought, as I expected they'd be for features I didn't have installed. One is a windscreen heater (makes sense, as I don't have that) but the other was a blower motor! Popped one in and all working. Cleared the fault code and also had a look back at the motronic errors and after a week, no more fuel trim errors! Looks like the LPG setup that I thought was working relatively well but just messy, was actually pretty poor.
So now with those errors sorted, not a single error code :)
But... Of course new things to do, I've noticed that my front diff is leaking a bit, with a splash and layer of diff oil slapped around the underside. Looks to be from the pinion seal area, so need to get a pinion and flange kit ordered. I checked the breather hose and that seems to not be blocked though, so probably just a worn seal.
I also poked around to see where my minor engine oil leak is coming from. For a long time I've thought it was the rear main. However I opened the inspection hole in the bell housing and surprisingly it's perfectly dry in there, only a touch of oil on the removable plate itself. It gathers on the bottom of the sump and drain bolt, or a little on the join between the sump and bell housing. It leaves a couple of drops on the driveway, but nothing major. Looking around again, maybe it's from around the front cover area? The front seal was replaced when I recently did a partial engine rebuild with new cam etc. It looks like it might be from the cam position sensor or to the side of this?! It's completely dry above the cam sensor and all the heads, water pump etc, so it's not a valley gasket or rocker cover gasket. It also doesn't seem to be from the oil cooler lines either. I'm going to replace the seal again on the cam sensor to be sure and if it's not that, maybe it's where the blank plug things are in the front cover?!
nigelbb wrote:
Yesterday I drove my 2001 Vogue up to Lincolnshire so that V8 Developments can totally recondition the engine
I bet you overshot the entrance. I have every time I've been there......
Not just today, but last Thursday (28th July), I took this......
Then by late last night, 8 days later, I took this.....
Last Friday I set off for southern Spain towing a car transporter trailer. Having got there, I spent a couple of days working on the reason for my visit, then set off on Wednesday, getting home in the early hours of this morning, towing this
1,587 miles at 50-55mph takes an awfully long time.
Getting it onto the trailer required a bit of what the Aussies call 'bush engineering' as it was at the top of a mountain with about 3kms of very steep track to get down to somewhere flat enough to load it. The fuel pump died on it 8 years ago so it has sat there in the sun doing nothing (not even going rusty) since then. It's a 1990 model so doesn't have the fuel pump access hatch so dropping the tank was one option but the wasps nest under the rear bumper made that a hazardous exercise (I could cope with the 34 degree heat and the humidity but not being attacked by the wasps I was disturbing), so it was on to plan B.
Plan B involved the fuel pump from an XJ12 dangled next to the chassis where the fuel filter sits and held in place with a couple of tie wraps. Other problem was the 1/4 tank of 8 year old stale fuel so it needed fresh. Then discovered that the Jag pump would normally be fitted below the fuel level as it isn't self priming. A quick trip to a Jet Ski place supplied a priming bulb and with that fitted to prime the pump, she's a runner. Fresh fuel was fed from the temporary fuel tank.......
Gear lever (3.9 V8 with an auto box) wouldn't move and found a sliding thingy below the lever had dried out and seized but a dribble of ATF on that freed it off. Then it didn't want to move so slackened off the adjuster on the parking brake and it tried to move a bit. Stuck it in Low, reverse gear, gave it some welly and the brakes freed off too and it moved under its own power for the first time in 8 years. Ran it back and forth stomping on the brake pedal every so often and it was ready for the journey down the mountain. Had a bit of an air lock in the fuel hose so it didn't syphon down to the pump so every couple of hundred yards had to stop and give the bulb a few squeezes to get the fuel flowing again. Managed it though.......
Just got to drain the tank, find a way of disposing of the stale fuel and fitting a new pump.
Cool! RRC’s are worth some money these days.
Why do you think I drove 3,300 miles to collect it? It was an offer I couldn't refuse. Compared with what you usually find over here which is either rotten through and through or fully restored and going for ridiculous sums of money, it's amazing. It was taken to Spain in 1998 so was only 8 years old and has been there ever since. Chassis and underside is solid with just surface rust from standing but the sill are rusty and there is a small hole in one inner wing (compared to a small piece of remaining inner wing that you usually see) but even the rear lower tailgate only has a bit of surface rust. All the usual places you expect to see rust on a Classic are fine. I expected the interior to have been destroyed by the heat but that is in amazing condition, it needs a headlining (don't they all) and the carpets could do with a good vacuum but the seats look barely used. Only got 154,000 on the clock and now it has been run a bit it fires up and runs perfectly too.
Are you going to keep hold of it after some titivation or is it a fix it and sell for profit?
Gilbertd wrote:
nigelbb wrote:
Yesterday I drove my 2001 Vogue up to Lincolnshire so that V8 Developments can totally recondition the engine
I bet you overshot the entrance. I have every time I've been there......
Amazingly I didn't miss the entrance. My satnav informed me I had arrived at my destination in the flat featureless Lincolnshire countryside with no sign of 'Cobweb Farm' but I drove slowly another fifty yards & saw the sign on my left.
StrangeRover wrote:
Are you going to keep hold of it after some titivation or is it a fix it and sell for profit?
I'm going to drop the tank, fit the replacement fuel pump (which came with it) and advertise it for sale. My ex-LR workshop manager neighbour suggested not even washing it so people can see exactly what is there. He also looked under the bonnet and said he'd never seen one more than 5 years old that still had inner wings! If it doesn't sell, I'll put an MoT on it (so will probably need to get the sills done) and try again.
Amazingly I didn't miss the entrance. My satnav informed me I had arrived at my destination in the flat featureless Lincolnshire countryside with no sign of 'Cobweb Farm' but I drove slowly another fifty yards & saw the sign on my left.
You obviously drove slower than I do, I always see the sign just as I drive past it.
Tailgate lock stopped working. No problems I thought. I have an emergency pull cord fitted to open the lock. I climbed through the rear door and reached in to pull the cord and it worked a treat. First time in anger, the original actuator is 22 years old.
Took off the lower card. I have a spare actuator and I thought I would just plug it in and verify it is the actuator or else a problem further back in the car. So far so good.
I then discover the spare actuator I have has a different plug. There is an early and a late version apparently and the early spare I have will not fit. I rig up a small 12v battery and with a bit of wire, I test the original actuator in the car. It works OK.
Using a multimeter, I find there is no signal to it from the car. I try the fuel filler flap which is on the same circuit. It does not work either.
I then check fuse 14 under the seat. Not blown. I push it back in and suddenly everything starts working.
There must be a moral in this story. About 2 hours wasted flapping around.
Drained over 5 gallons of foul smelling stale petrol then dropped the fuel tank on the Classic. Did battle with hose clips and hoses that haven't moved in 32 years and finally gained access to the pump. 4 out of the 5 screws holding the old pump came out but, as usual, one put up a fight. Pump out, new one in and put it all back together. Went to the local garage, took out a mortgage and bought 2 gallons of petrol. Put that in the tank, tried starting it and nothing. Confirmed the pump was running, disconnected the fuel line at the filter and put my bit of hose with the priming bulb on it. Seems that 2 gallons isn't enough to cover the fuel pickup on the pump. This is going to get expensive......
Gilbertd wrote:
Drained over 5 gallons of foul smelling stale petrol then dropped the fuel tank on the Classic. Did battle with hose clips and hoses that haven't moved in 32 years and finally gained access to the pump. 4 out of the 5 screws holding the old pump came out but, as usual, one put up a fight. Pump out, new one in and put it all back together. Went to the local garage, took out a mortgage and bought 2 gallons of petrol. Put that in the tank, tried starting it and nothing. Confirmed the pump was running, disconnected the fuel line at the filter and put my bit of hose with the priming bulb on it. Seems that 2 gallons isn't enough to cover the fuel pickup on the pump. This is going to get expensive......
In 1990 a litre of petrol cost about 40p which adjusting for inflation is about 80p in today's money so fuel cost was not the same issue it would be today.
and the answer is, it needs at least 3 gallons in the tank before the pickup is submerged. Reminded me of something I read once. I think it was on an MGB where someone advocated dropping gravel into the tank when you ran out of fuel as that then filled up the vacant space at the bottom of the tank and caused the fuel level to rise. I bet the noise of a load of gravel inside a metal fuel tank when going over bumps would get really annoying.......